After taking a significant hit during the economic recession, the housing market has significantly improved and stabilized across the state, although some regions, including the Fall River area, aren’t doing as well as others, analysts say.

“In eastern Massachusetts, we have a strong housing market, particularly in Greater Boston,” said Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary of the state Office of Housing and Economic Development. “Because of low inventory, we actually have bidding wars going on in some communities. Other parts of states haven’t enjoyed the same economic success. We want to help those communities as well.”

In 30 Massachusetts communities, median single-family home sales prices have risen higher than they were in 2005, the peak before the economic recession, according to information released by the Warren Group, which publishes Banker & Tradesman.

The prices in most cities and town, however, are still well below the 2005 peak, despite making significant gains over the past few years.

In Fall River, the median price dropped from $263,000 in 2005 to $165,500 in the first quarter of 2014. Decreases also occurred in towns across the Fall River area, with the largest gap existing in Freetown, where median prices fell from $351,750 to $286,000. Somerset’s median price dropped $290,000 to $234,250. Swansea saw a drop from $280,000 to $216,000. Westport’s median price declined from $370,000 to $278,000.

“The crash in the real estate market was terrible,” said Tim Warren, CEO of the Warren Group. “It lasted six or seven years in this state. Virtually each year was worse than the one before. We’re in the third year of the recovery now. The recovery has been strong, very strong in some areas.”

Median sales prices for single-family homes in Massachusetts have risen for 19 straight months, registering at $315,000 in April, according to the Warren Group’s monthly housing report.

Increases have not been common in the Fall River area, however, with four communities seeing median prices continue to drop based on sales during the first quarter of 2014.

The two communities that have seen median prices increase from 2013 to the first quarter of 2014 are Freetown and Somerset.

“In general, we’ve seen an increase in home prices across state,” Gornstein said. “It’s a much more stable housing market across the state. There’s been a significant decrease in foreclosures over the past two years.”

He added that there was a slight uptick in foreclosure petitions last month, a sign that the journey to recovery is not finished.

The market is generally the most robust in communities with the greatest access to jobs, particularly in Greater Boston and along Route 128, Warren said.

The Patrick administration declared the week of June 8 Massachusetts Housing Week and promoted state initiatives aimed at increasing affordable housing stock, boosting home ownership and reducing foreclosures.

Page 2 of 2 - In November 2012, Massachusetts announced a goal of creating 10,000 new multifamily housing units per year through 2020, an effort intended to increase access to affordable housing and boost inventory, particularly in urban areas.

Gornstein also said the state is committed to providing assistance to first-time homebuyers.

“It’s certainly a big challenge for younger families to afford a home in Massachusetts,” he said. “We don’t want to lose those talented people coming out of the universities to other states … The housing market and housing initiatives are critical to our overall economic success in Massachusetts.”

Gerry Tuoti is the Regional Newsbank Editor for GateHouse Media New England. Email him at gtuoti@wickedlocal.com or call him at 508-967-3137.